Ford ramps up climate change efforts, targets carbon neutrality by 2050

MANILA: Ford Motor Company plans to attain carbon neutrality on a global scale by 2050 while establishing provisional targets to deal with immediate climate change concerns. The 2050 commitment also focuses on Ford's continuous ramping up of its eco-friendly performance for its operations and products.

On June 24, the auto company announced this with the release of its 21^st Annual Sustainability Report. Based on this, Ford is considered as the only full-time American automaker dedicated to minimizing CO2 emissions in compliance with the Paris Climate Agreement, while collaborating with California for stricter greenhouse gas limits for vehicles.

Carbon neutrality corresponds to reaching zero carbon emissions through the combination of carbon removal with these emissions. To attain its target, Ford will primarily concentrate on three aspects, accounting for around 95% of its CO2 emissions, namely, the facilities of the company, the supply chain, and the use of cars.

In Ford production plants in the Philippines and Thailand, the auto company is also working closely on efficient approaches geared toward the reduction of CO2 emissions.

Ford also said that it is establishing its 2050 target completely aware of roadblocks, which include the availability of renewable, carbon-neutral electricity and renewable fuels, economic conditions, government protocols, and customer acceptance.

Ford is also doing its best to formulate goals that are identified and accepted for its Scope 1, Scope 2, and Scope 3 emissions through the Science-Based Targets project. Scope 1 includes direct emissions from managed or company-owned sources. Scope 2 deals with indirect emissions from a Ford-consumed generation of purchased electricity, cooling, heating, and steam. Among other items, Scope 3 emissions apply to in-use vehicle emissions that Ford markets and also emissions coming from its supply base.

In 2019, through the application of human-centered design thinking, the company broadened its climate approach to discover more efficient ways to incorporate the wants and needs of people as well as their business, along with technological prospects.

Ford is investing more than US$11.5 billion in electric vehicles (EVs) through 2022, incorporating zero-emission versions of some of its most successful nameplates, which include the Transit Commercial EV, the recently launched fully-electric F-150, and the Mustang Mach-E, which will come out in dealerships this year.

The company previously announced its intention to use 100% locally generated renewable energy worldwide for all its production facilities by 2035. This only means that electricity can only come from natural replenishing sources like solar power, wind power, geothermal power, and hydropower

The auto company also previously revealed the Mustang Mach-E, an all-electric Mustang SUV with a targeted EPA-estimated range of 483 km on a single charge, based on the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates, and up to 600 km under the Worldwide Harmonized Light Vehicles Test Procedure (WLTP) guidelines.

Sourcing value from waste material or the process of “upcycling” has been a reliable target for Ford for over 10 years.

As part of its support for the circular economy, Ford also holds a partnership with McDonald’s USA in 2019 to convert coffee chaff, a fast-food waste byproduct, into vehicle parts. This sustainable advancement has been perceived not just to lessen the utilization of petroleum to manufacture these components but to decrease the weight of such elements by 20% and require up to 25% lesser energy during the molding procedure.

Ford also utilized its design skills, production capacity, and vehicle components in the manufacture of personal protective equipment, respirators, and ventilators to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.

Graphics from Ford

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